


Escalation

by heroman45, Sturm_and_Drang



Category: Dragon Ball, Fairy Tail
Genre: Cana and Lucy are bros, Erza and Goku are bros, Gen, Goku and Levy are bros, Mirajane is a troll, Shipmaster Mira
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-11
Updated: 2016-10-20
Packaged: 2018-08-21 20:35:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 22,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8259742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heroman45/pseuds/heroman45, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sturm_and_Drang/pseuds/Sturm_and_Drang
Summary: A young Goku finds himself in a land of magic after an incident with the Dragon Balls rips him away from his home.  In a strange new world, he encounters a red haired girl on the run from her past.





	1. The Encounter

Chapter 1- The Encounter

Shockwaves of pure energy were sent blasting through the multiverse after the collision between the two gods. The destruction of the Infinity Gauntlet disrupted the balance of power in reality itself, altering the lives of every single thing it touched. Ripples rushed across a million different realms, dimensions, worlds, and universes, changing everyone it touched in some way. But of course, some changes are more significant than others.

In one dimension, Clark Kent truly became the nerdy reporter he was always trying to be. In another a spider themed hero was able to successfully thwart an attempt to switch his body and murder him. In a third, a demon fox overwhelmed the attempts to trap it within a child and leveled the entire village. A white haired man and his raven haired protégé lead the survivors on the path to rebuilding their home, eventually allowing them to become the strongest village their world had ever seen. On a fourth world, a chicken decided against crossing a road, thus eliminating an endless supply of tasteless jokes from ever existing.

It is in a fifth world where this story begins. A small ten year old boy was trekking back towards his mountain home after managing to catch a fish large enough to be considered supper. Said fish was nearly three times the size of the ten year old carrying it, and had been caught while attempting to snag the child's tail. Checking the sky, the boy increased his pace slightly, wanting to be home before the full moon came out. He didn't want to accidently run into the monster that killed his Grandpa Gohan.

When the boy reached his home he set up a fire to cook the fish and went inside his small shack. The only furnishings to be found were a small bed and a shrine with an orange ball stars sitting on top of it. The four red stars gleamed on it's surface in the dying daylight. The boy walked straight up to the shrine and kneel down before the ball.

"Hi Grandpa, I hope you are doing alright in there. I really miss being able to talk to you. Don't worry, I'm doing alright. I even caught a really big fish today! It should keep my tummy nice and full for a whole day! I would give you some, but the last time I did that it just sat there until it went bad, so I don't think that you can eat in there. I've been practicing all of the fighting moves you've taught me and I think I'm getting loads better! I beat up one of the dinosaurs that live in the woods this morning!"

The orange ball made no response, yet the boy seemed content to just continue talking. He chatted with the ball for the entire twenty minutes it took for his meal to cook, and then returned to continue telling of his day the minute he finished eating. Eventually he grew tried, and with a lazy wave the child went to bed. By the time the full moon rose above him, the young boy was sleeping soundly.

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In another realm a different child was staring up at the moon. The red haired nine year old had just barely escaped a slave camp where she had been forced to work from sun up to sun down every single day in an attempt to construct a magical tower. In a fit a desperation she picked up a sword and led the prison's first and only revolt. She had nearly succeeded in freeing everyone, only to be betrayed by her best friend and made out to be the enemy.

Instead of fighting their way to freedom together like she had dreamed of every night, she had been cast adrift, stuck on a small boat with no guarantee of surviving back to the mainland. It had taken her more than a day to maneuver the ship back to shore safely only to find herself on a deserted beach that led into a massive forest and no sign of civilization. With no options available to her, the girl had entered the woods in an attempt to find someone that could help her. Her one good eye constantly scanned her surroundings, never letting her guard down for a second. The betrayal was still fresh in her mind, and now that she was alone there was absolutely no way she would allow herself to relax again.

By the time night had come around she had already forced herself to travel nearly a dozen miles through the woods without a single break. When she had finally stopped for the night, the first thing she did was collapse onto her back. Her lone eye stared up at the sky to drink in the sight of the moon as it cast it's pale light across the forest. The sight reminded her of nights where she and her friends had gazed up at the sky from their jail cell, dreaming of freedom. Now she had finally found it, the girl wanted nothing more than to be back in the cell with the people she loved. She didn't care about being free anymore if there wasn't anyone for her to share it with. With tears trailing down her face, the girl rolled onto her side and slept.

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The young boy had woken up shortly after dawn, intent of spending the morning training before he needed to track down more food. After grabbing his red staff and attaching the sheath to his back he took the first step out of his home, hoping to find something to fight. Instead he caught sight of a strange discoloration in the air above him. The distortion was a sickly green and was gradually expanding around the area above him. The light slowly grew brighter and brighter, practically boiling the air until it exploded in a colorful flash. When the energy faded away there was nothing more than a crater where the boy and the house had stood. Several more of these explosions happened around the world, leaving half a dozen other craters scattered across the planet.

This world would later be put in peril when a green skinned demon rose up to take over. Without any heroes to match him the planet fell to his rule for nearly a decade until a long haired alien arrived. Enraged at being unable to find the person he was looking for, the alien slayed the demon along with every single living being he could find on the planet. The world was later sold to an intergalactic conqueror who turned it into his 94th vacation home. The tiny alien lived there comfortably for three years until he died at the hands of his gold haired lieutenant. So it goes…

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The young girl glared at the group of men surrounding her. Five men, all clearly part of some sort of bandit gang. They were currently discussing how much they would be able to sell her to their connection in the underground slave trade.

"Seriously man, just looking at her I can tell she'll be a dime when she grows up! I bet we can probably push for an extra grand with her!"

"No way, she's damaged goods. See that eye patch? We would be lucky to get the regular full price in the shape she's in. It looks like she hasn't eaten anything in days, she can barely stand up."

The red head scowled at this. They were right. Between the rebellion, her journey on the boat, and the trek through the forest she was quickly approaching her physical limit. She hadn't eaten any food in nearly three days and had barely been able to find herself enough water to keep going. She had no weapons, no supplies, and the only piece of clothing she wore was practically a repurposed pillowcase. The men around her were all wearing some type of light leather armor and wielding large spiked maces. They had come across her small camp in the early morning, catching her by surprise before she even had the chance to fully wake up. Now they were talking about her like she wasn't even there… like she wasn't even a threat to them! Not only that, they were planning on selling her straight back into slavery like what she had just escaped! She wouldn't let that happen, not after everything that she had already gone through! She would not let them take her! THEY WOULDN"T TAKE HER!

"RRRAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Calling on the raging energy that had allowed her to escape from the tower, she screamed. The sudden release of the girl's power caught all of the men off guard. An aura of light purple energy caught all five men's weapons, ripping them all from their grasps and smashing them into each other's heads. The weapons then began flying as if wielded by phantoms, hammering into the men far harder than any 9 year old had a right to hit. All five ended up being pounded into the ground in a matter of seconds. Completely spent, the young girl collapsed to her knees. Her head hung down as she tried desperately to catch her breath. her vision was already blurring, such a huge burst of power was far too much for her to safely manage in such horrible shape. She doubted she would even be able to stand for the next few hours.

"Well damn, you're a tough bitch aren't you?" The girls eye widened in shock as she looked up to see one of the bandits standing over her, a blue glow covering both of his hands.

"Too bad you didn't know that I'm a mage as well, otherwise you might have had a shot. Now though, you are at your limit and I'm going to cash you in. Mages at your age can go for quite a pretty penny." The bandit brought his hands together, the blue energy combining to form a single pulsing sphere.

"Alright bitch, time to go to sleep!" The bandit's leapt forward to strike, intent on knocking the girl out before she could recover. The red head merely closed her eye, accepting yet another miserable turn in her short life.

"POWER POLE, EXTEND!" The girl's eye snapped back open when she heard the yell, regaining her focus just in time to see a red bo staff smash into the side of her attacker's face. The man was sent sprawling backwards and the energy from his attack dispersed harmlessly back into the air. The man returned to his feet just in time to receive a flying kick to the face from a young boy with spiky black hair. The bandit was immediately knocked unconscious, the surprise attack having left him no time to defend. After a quick glance around at the other bandits, the boy turned to the young girl, offering her a hand with a wide grin.

"Hi! I'm Son Goku, what's your name?" The girl looked at the hand for a moment before clasping it, allowing the boy to help her to her feet.

"My name is Erza. Erza Scarlet."


	2. Friends?

Chapter 2: Friends?

Disclaimer: I own nothing

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Goku picked himself up off the ground from where the explosion had thrown him. He counted himself lucky, since his face had broken his fall and protected his tail. Getting to his feet the young boy looked around, blinking the spots out of his eyes.

He hadn't a clue what that explosion was, but he did know one thing; he was definitely not in the mountains anymore. His Grandpa's hut laid at the base of a huge tree, one of many that covered the area. It appeared that he had ended up in an enormous forest. The ground surrounding the hut looked freshly dug up, as though the house had been thrown there and destroyed everything that laid in that space before it. Grabbing his power pole from his satchel, the young boy began to venture out to try and figure out what had happened.

"I bet it was some nasty old witch! Grandpa always warned me about them, they probably want to get all of my fish!" Goku continued exploring outward, scanning the area for several minutes. He didn't recognize any of the plant life, and the terrain was strange to him as well. Living in the mountains, he had become accustomed to seeing far out over the horizon. All of the trees made him feel quite cramped. However, the discomfort and confusion were immediately forgotten once he noticed a plant covered in small green beans.

"Oh boy, food! I'm so hungry! I wonder how they taste…" Goku picked one of the beans off of the bush and popped it into his mouth. While the bean lacked flavor, he suddenly felt as though his entire body was filled with energy and his stomach was full.

"Whoa! It's gotta be some kind of magic bean! My tummy doesn't feel empty anymore, it's like I ate an entire lake full of fish! Whoo hoo!" Goku started running around, excited by his newfound discovery.

"RRRAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Goku stopped jumping around as he heard a high pitched scream behind him. He turned to see a purple glow emanating from deep within the woods. Goku stretched out his senses in an attempt to discover what was going on, and the sounds of combat reached his ears shortly afterward.

"Oh boy! A fight!" The boy launched himself into the air, jumping through the trees like a monkey until he reached the source of what he'd heard. There were several unconscious figures lying on the ground around a small child with red hair, and a very angry looking man was standing over her. Goku looked from the child to the man in indecision, unsure of who to attack. As the man went forward to strike the red head, Goku decided that he was the bad guy.

"POWER POLE, EXTEND!" Goku slammed the pole into the man's face, knocking him down and away from the girl. He then launched himself forward to deliver a hard kick, knocking the bandit out just as he was beginning to get up. The spiky haired boy quickly glanced around at the other bandits to make sure they were out cold. He noticed one of them was still groaning, so he smacked that one on the head before turning to the red headed girl, who was staring up at him. Goku gave the her a grin and held out his hand.

"Hi! I'm Son Goku, what's your name?" The girl looked at his hand for a moment before clasping it, allowing the boy to help her to her feet.

"My name is Erza. Erza Scarlet."

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Erza stood carefully, worried that her body would give out on her again if she moved too fast. She furrowed her brow as the boy started poking the bandit leader's face with his staff.

"What are you doing?"

"I was hoping that he would get back up so we could fight some more, that wasn't very fun. He went down way too easy." Goku pouted and shoved his staff into the bandit's nose one last time before giving up. He turned back to look over to Erza, who was looking at him funny.

"You just attacked a group of bandits for fun?"

"Well it looked like you needed help too. Oh yeah! I forgot to ask, are you okay? You look like they really beat you up!" Erza's look of confusion quickly morphed into a scowl.

"They did not beat me up! I've just had nothing to eat in a few days so I'm very hungry! If I was at full strength I would have beaten them just like-"

Erza cut herself off and looked down at the ground. She had promised to not tell anybody about what had happened at the tower. She had been told that if she started talking about her time there, her friends would be killed. Even telling this one boy in the middle of nowhere could lead to the deaths of all of those she cared about. Luckily for her, it appeared that Goku had only caught part of what she said. His eyes were bulging out and there was an expression of horror on his face.

"You haven't eaten in DAYS?!" he exclaimed, tears starting to gather in his eyes at the thought.

"I don't think I could go a single day without eating! Come on, I'll give you one of my magic beans!" Goku grabbed her by the hand before she had a chance to respond, and began dragging her back the way he came. Erza struggled desperately to stay on her feet as the energetic boy pulled her along at high speeds, her body barely able to keep up. They came to a stop a minute later when Goku saw the same bush he had eaten from earlier. He picked one of the beans off the bush, examined it for a moment, then abruptly turned around and shoved it into the tired girl's mouth.

Not expecting the move, Erza was barely able to swallow the bean without choking on it. Much like Goku, she was instantly filled with a burst of energy. The redhead watched in shock as her body completely repaired itself, and her stomach was left feeling completely full. She spent several seconds examining herself, trying to see whether she was truly healed or if it was some sort of illusion. Her hand trembling, the young mage brought her hand up to her eye patch. She unwrapped the bandages around her head, and all of her doubts vanished in an instant. Her eye worked, it had been healed!

"Thank you, thank you so much for healing me!" Goku just grinned back at the girl, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. With her thanks now out of the way, Erza turned her attention to another subject. The sound of her hand smacking his face was loud enough to startle the birds for miles around. They all took to the sky, cawing in terror as the redhead began yelling at her unsuspecting victim.

"Whether you healed me or not, you shouldn't just shove food into a girl's face! It doesn't matter if you were just trying to be helpful, it is still incredibly rude! Were you never taught any manners?" Goku's face changed to a dumbfounded expression, but not for the reason Erza was expecting.

"Wait, you're a girl? A real girl? I've never met a girl before! Grandpa always said that if I ever met a girl I should be on my best behavior and be as polite as I possibly can!"

"Wait, you're saying you've never seen a girl before?"

"Besides Grandpa, you're the only other human I've ever met!"

"The only… you've been that isolated your whole life?!"

Goku completely ignored her question. Instead, he was walking around the astonished girl, examining her from every angle.

"So do girls not have tails then? Are there other differences besides that?" Erza's eyes immediately jumped to Goku's lower back, where she had finally noticed the brown monkey tail that was poking out from the top of his pants. How had she completely missed that before?

"Why do you have a tail?! People don't have tails!"

"Nuh uh! All little boys have tails; they just fall off when we get older. My grandpa told me so."

"There is no way that's true! I've spent months with other boys our age and none of them had tails!" Erza reached out and grabbed the tail, yanking it up to her eye level to for closer examination.

Goku froze, and giving a small yelp of pain he slowly fell forward, face-planting on the ground.

Erza blinked, not quite sure what to make of the situation. Her hand unconsciously loosened and Goku's tail slipped free, falling to the ground besides him. Goku lay unmoving for a few minutes before he finally snapped out of his pain filled stupor and returned to his feet.

"Owwwww" he groaned, gently clutching his tail. "That really hurt. It was weird, like all the energy in my body was being squeezed out of me." For the first time since Erza had met him, Goku wasn't smiling. He was looking at his tail like a kicked puppy, sadness etched in his features. Erza continued to watch him in silence. She was unsure of what had happened, yet she felt very much responsible for it. Goku looked up at Erza again, maintaining his shell-shocked expression.

"Please don't tell anyone about that. I want to be the strongest in the world like my Grandpa was. If people knew about what happens with my tail, I'll never become as strong as he is. I'll never win another fight again." Erza immediately nodded her head, seeing how easily such a weakness could be used to defeat him.

"I am very sorry for my actions. I truly did not mean to hurt you like that. I beg your forgiveness, please strike me as punishment!" Goku's attention was quickly drawn away from his tail towards the young girl.

"Hit you? You mean like a fight? Alright, awesome!" Goku instantly lashed out, catching Erza off-guard. The last thing she saw was a tree flying towards her head. Then there was nothing.

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Erza returned to consciousness with a pounding headache. Her eyes opened slowly, taking in her new surroundings. She was no longer out in the woods. Instead she appeared to be inside some sort of hut. The redhead rose to her knees slowly, and glanced around the small room. She paused at the sight of Goku devouring a fish more than twice his size. He gave her a cheerful wave and passed her a small plate of food before turning back towards his own. Erza had to turn her back on him in order to eat without losing her appetite. Only when Goku finished filling his black hole of a stomach were they able to resume conversation.

"How did you hit me so hard? I've never felt a blow as powerful as that one before. I was only expecting you to leave a bruise at most."

"I already told you, I'm training to become as strong as my Grandpa. He was really powerful, and I want to be just like him."

"I must apologize for underestimating you. It will not happen again. So is this your Grandpa's house? Where is he? Also, why did you bring me here in the first place? We were right next to a magic bush that could heal wounds."

"I can get a feel for energy, and I wasn't sure if it would be safe to take more than one at a time. I didn't want to accidently kill you or something. You went down way too easy before, I still want to fight you! I brought you here because it was getting dark out. I wasn't sure if the moon was full tonight or not. I brought you in here so that the monster can't get us."

"Monster? What monster?"

"Grandpa always told me about a giant monster that came out on the nights of the full moon. He said I should never be outside on those nights, or he might get me."

"Don't tell me you actually believed him! That's the kind of stories old people tell kids to make sure they go to bed on time! Where is your Grandpa? I bet if I talk to him I could get him to tell you the truth, that there is no monster!"

"There is too a monster! You can't ask my Grandpa about him because it killed him! I found him all squished up and bloody inside of a massive footprint!" Erza paled at this comment, she had just insulted a dead man. Goku didn't seem to care though, as he continued speaking.

"He died fighting the monster so I bet he was happy. Besides, his spirit is in the Dragon Ball right over there." Erza looked over to where Goku had indicated and saw an orange ball with four red stars sitting on a pedestal in the back of the hut.

"Your Grandpa's spirit is inside that thing? What is it?"

"My Grandpa told me this story a while ago, about how there are seven Dragon Balls and whoever can gather all seven together will be granted any wish!" The disbelief on Erza's face sailed blissfully over Goku's head. He continued chatting to her about the Dragon Balls for several minutes, while Erza began to contemplate whether or not it would be wise for her to slip out of the house during the night. She had no idea if the boy would be willing to leave, or if he might prevent her from accomplishing her goals in some way.

Goku's talking was suddenly cut off as the boy collapsed backwards, taking the young girl by surprise. He seemed to have fallen asleep in the middle of his sentence. She stared at him for a moment, checking to see if he was truly asleep. When he did not rise, Erza decided that she might as well spend the night in the hut and gather her strength. She needed to be at her best to complete her journey safely. She had made a promise, and she was planning on keeping it. Tomorrow, she would continue her search for Fairy Tail.


	3. The Living Weapon

Chapter 3: The Living Weapon

Goku's first night in Earthland didn't pass smoothly for him. He had been snapped awake shortly after Erza drifted off.

Something was wrong.

There were many things about this new place that he found odd. He couldn't hear the mountain winds blowing, the food tasted different, even the air tasted slightly different. He decided that before he tried going back to sleep, he should take a walk. After checking out the window to see if the moon was full, which it wasn't, he made his way towards the door. Looking over at the redhead to make sure she was asleep, Goku edged his way out of the cabin.

He truly had no idea what was going on, and as the excitement of meeting someone new began to fade away, a worrying feeling replaced it. Where exactly had he ended up? What was that giant flash of light? How had he gotten here?

Goku stopped to consider everything that had happened, attempting to make heads or tails of his situation.

After a few minutes, he just shrugged. He had no clue, so there was no point worrying about it.

He had always been quick to adapt, he had figured out how to care for himself very quickly after Grandpa Gohan had passed away. This wasn't too different, he just needed to adapt to a new living area this time. If anything, things were even better now! He had gotten into a fight almost as soon as he had arrived, even though it wasn't a very good one, and he had made a new friend. His very first friend!

Smiling at that thought, Goku returned inside and laid down next to Erza, quickly returning to his slumber. Almost immediately the boy's mind was assaulted by strange dreams. The boy dreamed of a blue haired woman and a talking pig, traveling with him across the mountains on an adventure. On their adventure they found a large sea turtle that asked them to return it to the ocean. He dreamed of an ancient man with a turtle shell on his back, yelling something as he fired a blue beam of pure energy. Goku marveled at the attack, never before in his life had he seen anything quite so powerful. The beam hit a flaming mountain, reducing it to rubble.

Goku just had to know this technique, it was the coolest thing he had ever seen in his entire life. The dream flashed forwards, this time showing Goku. Goku cried and the same technique as the old man and fired his own version of the attack. While it was far smaller, it was still able to destroy the blue haired woman's bike thing like it was cardboard. Still though, Goku's subconscious refused to let him hear the name. The move appeared again and again, flashing through decades of time, showing Goku grow tall and powerful and using that technique to win dozens of battles. Then he was back at the mountain and the old man was speaking to him again. He called the technique the "Turtle Destruction Wave", but that wasn't the name he had cried out. The man's muscles bulged, and he cupped his hands close to his side as he chanted.

Kaaa

Mee-

BOOOOOM!

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Erza opened her eyes just as the sun began to peek over out the horizon. She carefully rose to her feet, staying quiet as to avoid waking her companion. She had rested enough, today she needed to continue her journey to Magnolia so that she could join Fairy Tail.

However, she was unsure of what to do about Goku. She was surely indebted to him after everything he had done for her. He'd saved her, healed her, fed her, and opened his home to her. If she left now, there was no guarantee that they would even cross paths again.

She was not the kind of person who left debts unpaid.

She felt that the simplest solution would be to get the boy to travel with her, but how could she convince him to leave his only home and drag him out of years of isolation? Would he be willing to go, or would he refuse her offer?

Erza certainly didn't want to leave him, he was the first person to help her since she had escaped from the tower. Now that the others thought that she betrayed them…he was the only real friend she had left.

Erza maneuvered her way around Goku and exited the cabin, stretching out her stiff joints in the orange glow of the sun. She carefully considered her options, looking for an argument that could persuade Goku to set out from his home.

He said he wanted to become stronger. Rob had told her that Fairy Tail was home to many strong fighters. Perhaps they would make worthy opponents for Goku to test his strength against.

The redhead smiled. Perhaps she would convince Goku to come with her after all.

"THERE SHE IS!"

The shout drew her from her thoughts. She turned and saw a group of men emerging from the woods. Leading the pack was the mage that Goku had knocked out the day before, the leader of the group that had tried to capture and enslave her.

"See boss, I told you that she couldn't have gotten far. Hey look, she even got her eye fixed up for us! Now we don't need to sell her at a discount!" Erza craned her neck to look behind the mage, searching the crowd for this 'boss'. She didn't have to wait long as one of them stepped forward, pushing past the other man.

"Yes Dilvak…quite good for us…but her friend…where is he?" Their leader was massive to say the least. His entire body bulged with muscles, and he stood a full head above any of his men. He was quite the giant, especially compared to the small girl in front of him. His voice was deep a raspy, as though he gargled gravel during his free time. It grated on Erza's ears, but his words only enhanced the smile on the thugs face.

"Yeah girl, where is the little bastard that ambushed me? I want to have some words with that little punk before we sell him!" While Dilvak was talking the rest of the men began to spread out, making a half circle around her that left the cabin to her back.

"My friend is sleeping right now, I would appreciate it if you could keep your cries of pain to a minimum while I beat you into the ground. I don't want to accidentally wake him up." The slavers broke out in laughter as they drew their weapons, seeing nothing before them but an easy victory. The leader stared at the young girl for a moment before taking a seat on a nearby boulder.

"Rough her up… as much as you want…but I want them both…alive." Dilvak and his men waited for their boss to disappear from sight before they made their move. As soon as he was gone, they attacked her all at once. Erza charged straight towards her attackers, leaping up and slamming her fist into the first man's face. She latched onto him as he fell, stealing the weapon from his hands as they impacted on the ground. She rolled away from him, dodging another man's attack and countering with a kick to the shin. The bandit fell over and gave Erza a clean shot at his head. The girl liberated the man's short sword from his unconscious body, and within minutes her twin blades had slashed their way through more than half of the slavers' numbers. Dilvak had backed off the second his comrades started falling, watching the battle from a distance.

He raised his arms and smirked, his palms aglow with magical power, and aimed straight at Erza. The girl was focused on parrying the attacks of three men that had cornered her near the door to Goku's cabin, leaving her completely unaware of the true threat.

"TRY THIS BITCH! BLASTER CANNON!" Erza had knocked down the very last of the men just as Dilvak's shout reached her ears. She turned just in time to see a glowing orange cannonball heading straight for her face.

"KYA!" Erza shrieked as she threw herself to the side to avoid the blast. The attack kept going, and Erza watched in horror as it struck Goku's house and detonated.

BOOOOOM!

The front wall of the building was gone, leaving the remains of the house to collapse in on itself in a giant pile of splinters and stone. Erza stared in shock at the wreck, stared at the spot where she knew her friend was crushed beneath.

"NOOOOOOOO!" Erza whipped around to face Dilvak, sparks of rage dancing across her eyes, and tears streaming down her face.

"HEY! WHO BLEW UP GRANDPA'S HOUSE?" Erza and Dilvak looked back towards the house in disbelief. Pushing his way out of the ruins was none other than Goku, not a single scratch on his body. The Power Pole was clutched tightly in his hand, and his eyes were hard with anger as he glared at Dilvak.

"It was you wasn't it? You tried to hurt Erza, and now you've gone and blown up Grandpa's house! You're a very a bad person. I think I'm going to hit you now." Dilvak chose not to waste time, raising his arms once more.

"BLASTER CANNON!"

Goku stood his ground and raised the Power Pole like a baseball bat. Erza bit back a yell, she wanted to tell him to dodge it. However, the look on his face and the easiness he sank into his fighting stance told her that he'd been in this situation before. She decided to trust his judgement.

"HAAH!" Goku swung the staff with all of his strength, the magical weapon smacking the magic energy ball away, aimed right back towards its source. Dilvak had just enough time to widen his eyes with shock before the blast smashed into his stomach. The man let out a grunt of pain as he was thrown into one of the trees. The thick trunk shattered on the impact, and Dilvak slid to the ground unconscious. Erza walked over to him, checking for any signs that he was still a threat. Finding none, she slammed her heel down onto his crotch, a smirk on her face.

"You should have learned the first time, I will never be a slave. Never again." Erza walked back towards Goku, looking to him with amusement as he went around poking the men she had taken down with his staff. Finding none of them awake to entertain him, Goku wandered back over to the ruins of his home, digging around in the rubble until he pulled out the 4 star Dragon Ball.

"I am…most disappointed." The two kids turned around to see the nearly forgotten leader rising from his boulder.

"I expected my men...to be capable of defeating you. Instead though...now you shall face…Ajax the Armor!" At the man's cry his muscles swelled, bulging out even more ridiculously, a silver liquid pouring out from his skin, covering him completely. The liquid solidified over every part of his body, encasing him in a suit of quicksilver armor. Spikes and blades appeared all over him, even the inside of his mouth turned metallic, his teeth sharpening like those of a shark. Goku held his staff at the ready, and Erza brought both of her liberated blades to bare.

For a moment, none of them moved, each side trying to find the perfect moment to strike.

Then they began.

Erza closed in first, lashing out with her blades towards the man's chest. The sharp steel impacted with the man's strange metal, leaving deep grooves on its surface. Ajax countered, growing a massive scythe-like blade from his elbow and slashing it towards the girl. Erza hopped out of the way and Goku took her place, blocking the blade with his staff. He expertly swung it sideways, knocking the dark mage off balance and landing a powerful downward strike to his head. The staff bounced off Ajax's armor uselessly, and the metal man punted Goku across the clearing. As he straightened, the cuts across his chest sealed themselves, leaving his armor shiny and unmarked once more.

Ajax charged forwards, slashing out with a flurry of blades towards both kids with a wild abandon. Erza parried the attacks with a mastery that didn't befit her age, gracefully dodging and countering at every move. Goku lacked the same experience with weapons, but he was also able to hold his own. He ducked underneath a slash at his neck and swung his staff wildly in an attempt to fend the metal man off.

Ajax was not a skilled fighter, but he didn't need to be. His regenerating armor and his incredible brute strength had always overpowered his more skilled opponents. This fight was no exception. Neither of the kids were a match for the muscled giant, they couldn't get through his armor and they weren't strong enough to overpower him.

Goku mistimed a block and received a small gash across his chest for his trouble. He gritted his teeth at the sudden pain, using it to motivate himself to take the offensive. Goku dodged underneath the next slash and swung upwards with the Power Pole, catching the man under the chin.

"POWER POLE EXTEND!" With the staff still lodged under his neck, Ajax suddenly found himself being lifted far above the clearing. Then just as fast as it extend, the weapon shrunk back to its normal size, allowing the giant man to fall to the ground and smash down on top of one of the bushes. Goku grinned in victory at the move, until Erza suddenly smacked him upside the head.

"Ow! What was that for?" Goku pouted at her.

"You idiot, you just launched him onto the plant that grew the magic beans! He flattened it! Now we can't use them to heal ourselves anymore!"

"Oh…hehe my bad." The kids watched from a distance as Ajax picked himself up, his armor unmarked once more. The man's right arm suddenly shifted, extending outwards and sharpening into a massive broadsword. His other arm morphed as well, extending outwards into what appeared to be a giant crossbow, except it lacked any sort of string. The man's eyes were focused solely on Goku. He seemed to be completely ignoring everything else, including Erza as she charged forwards and swung both of her blades at his face.

The swords created sparks from the force of the impact, but this time there was no visible damage on the armor. Instead, both of Erza's blades shattered, the shards of the weapons falling to the ground in an arc of sparkling fragments. Erza looked down in shock at the useless handles of her swords. Smirking at her, Ajax smashed his foot into her chest with an audible crack, sending the redhead hurtling into a tree.

"Erza!" Goku attempted to go aid his friend, but was halted as a giant metal crossbow bolt slammed down in front of him. Ajax was transforming his armor into projectiles, shooting arrows of quicksilver at the boy.

Ajax began firing the bolts at a rapid rate, gradually increasing his speed to keep his target off balance. Goku deflected the first few shots with his staff, but the rate of fire continued to increase, and soon he found himself backing up in an attempt to increase the time between shots. Seeing Goku's tactic of retreat, Ajax doubled his shooting speed.

Goku dived sideways to avoid a shot that would have impaled him, and rolled out of the way of another that pierce the spot he landed. Goku was on his feet a second later, but it was too slow. The metal bolt in front of him suddenly transformed, shifting itself into a massive hand that seized him by the leg.

Goku struggled with all his might, but nothing he did could get him loose from the trap. Ajax transformed both of his arms back to their normal metallic look and walked over, analyzing the boy in front of him.

"The boy…has a flaw…would make him harder to sell. Remove the flaw…fix the problem. Just have to...cut it off." Ajax grabbed Goku by the hair, turning him around to look at the tail on Goku's back. Then in a swift movement, he chopped it right off.

WAAAAAH!" Goku let out a cry of pain as the limb fell to the ground. The tail twitched wildly as it suddenly died, leaving nothing but a tiny stump on Goku's back. A metallic fist crashed into Goku's jaw, slamming his mouth shut and knocking him to the ground. Ajax towered over his prone body, chuckling quietly to himself as Goku tried to get back up. The bandit shifted his arm into a giant clamp, latching onto the boy so he could carry him back to his base. Now all he had to do was figure out where the girl had landed…

"HYAAA!" The giant man was knocked sideways as Erza smashed a massive mace into the side of his head. The young girl quickly dragged the groggy Goku away from him, clutching her ribs in pain as she moved. Goku sat up a moment later, rising shakily to his feet as he tried to get used to his new sense of balance.

"Only silly children…keep fighting when they are outmatched…they don't realize they cannot win against a living weapon!"

"A living weapon…oh." Erza stood up and stared at him for a moment. Then she smirked, a dangerous light appearing in her eyes. Ajax cocked an eyebrow at the redhead, not realizing what she was thinking.

"I only recently discovered my magic, but I do understand it. I can control weapons with my mind. Do you know what that means Mr. Weapon?" Erza flicked her hands out, and suddenly Ajax staggered backward. He looked down to see his bare chest instead of armor. He quickly resealed the gap, but the damage was done.

"Goku, I'll punch holes in his armor, you punch him." Goku nodded in understanding and darted forwards, dodging around Ajax's attacks and waiting for an opening. The metal clad giant swung his sword forward, but Erza flicked it aside, creating another gap in the process. The Power Pole slammed into the gap, cracking ribs and forcing a dribble of blood out of the bandit's mouth. Erza struck again, this time leaving Ajax's head exposed. He desperately threw up his arms to block the rapid attacks of the young boy, stopping the staff and kicking out wildly to knock him to the ground. The bandit spun on his feet, turning from his downed opponent and charging towards the true threat, the child that had somehow found a weakness in his impenetrable defense.

Erza allowed him to get two steps closer before she unleashed all of her remaining power at him. Ajax suddenly found himself flying upwards in the air, a purple aura surrounding him. Then the girl slammed him down, creating a massive crater in the ground as he impacted. Then she lifted him back up and did it again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

Ajax's armor was in shambles, most of it destroyed and the remnants were left hanging uselessly off of his body. The man was barely conscious, his body covered in massive bruises and one of his arms hanging at an awkward angle, broken and useless. With a final cry of determination Erza launched him off towards the horizon, watching with no small amount of satisfaction as he disappeared into the sky with a small flash of light. Goku stared at the redhead with stars in his eyes.

"That was so cool! Can you teach me how to do that, you threw him all over the place!" Erza smiled at him tiredly, silently questioning how he still had so much energy.

"Sorry, I barely understand how my powers work myself. That's one of the main reasons I'm travelling right now, I'm trying to get to a place called Fairy Tail. I was told that if I can get there that I would meet people who could train me and help me get stronger."

"Really? You get to go and meet a whole bunch of really strong people and train with them? That's awesome!"

"Yes…um" Erza looked over at the remains of Goku's home, guilt weighing heavy on her heart. If he hadn't gotten involved with her, it would still be standing. "I don't suppose, maybe you would like to come with me? Your house got destroyed in the fight, you need somewhere to live now." Goku looked over at the building, then he pulled the Dragon Ball out of his pocket, looking at it cheerfully.

"I still have Grandpa with me so it's no problem, I can rebuild the house really quick. But are those people at Fairy Tail all strong like you?"

"Yes, I believe that they are. So would you like to come along?"

"Yeah, of course! Oh boy, this will be awesome! I can meet a whole bunch of really strong people and get more powerful, just like I told Grandpa! Can I really come with you?" Erza chuckled to herself at the boy's antics, abruptly coughing as her broken rib protested the action. The girl's eyes hardened, clenching her chest as she tried to stop herself from showing any signs that she was still in pain. She failed miserably.

Goku watched his friend with concern, her pain still evident on her face despite her attempts to conceal it. He reached into his pocket once more and pulled out a sole green bean. He held out his hand, offering it to her. Erza looked past him, noticing that he still lacked his tail.

"Do you have another one for yourself? If not you should take it, my injuries will heal with time. You had your tail chopped off, you need it more." Goku shook his head, still holding out the bean.

"Nah, I'm pretty sure it will grow back. But when we get to Fairy Tail you said we could train with a bunch of really strong people, you can't train with them if you're all beat up!" Erza glared at the boy, but when it became apparent that he wouldn't back down her gaze softened. She quietly took the bean, sighing in relief as she felt her ribs heal.

The two spent some time preparing, Erza collecting several of the bandits' weapons that she liked the feel of, and Goku catching them some food for the road. With their weapons set, bags of food on their backs, and the Dragon Ball secure in Goku's pocket, the pair set off. They left behind them the ruins of Goku's hut in the forest, setting out towards what they hoped would be their new home.

"This is going to be so cool, I can't wait to fight a whole bunch of really powerful people! Let's get to Fairy Tail quick!"

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	4. Welcome to Fairy Tail

Chapter 4: Welcome to Fairy Tail!

For all of his power, Erza just could not believe just how utterly clueless Goku was. How he had managed to walk off the edge of a cliff was just completely beyond her. Dumfounded, she just watched as he pulled his head out of the hole and climbed back up. He just started walking again, forcing Erza to jog after him as the boy rambled on about how different life was without a tail.

They duo had been on the road for a week now, and Erza was still unsure just what she thought of her new friend. He wasn't a complete idiot, he wouldn't have been able to survive alone for as long as he did otherwise. But his simple, scatterbrained nature left her wondering how he ever got anything done.

One minute he would be walking along besides her, the next he would be up in a tree trying to find fruit. A second after that he would be chasing a squirrel around in an attempt to get it to play with him. The first few times he had done this Erza had smacked him upside the head to try and get him to stop. He thought this meant she was challenging her to a fight.

After leaving several Erza-shaped imprints in the ground, she figured it would be better for her health to just let him be.

Goku was completely oblivious to Erza's confusion. For the first time in his life he was travelling, getting to see more of the world than just the small portion he had grown up in. In just a few short days he had already wrestled a bear, played fetch with a wolf pack, and had gotten to spar with Erza a whole bunch of times. He hadn't had so much fun since his Grandpa had died.

The pair hadn't had any trouble since defeating Ajax. The only thing unusual was that he'd continued to have those strange dreams. However, they were gradually becoming less frequent as he became more acquainted with his new surroundings. As though whatever was giving him these dreams was getting further and further away.

The sun was just starting to set when they first caught sight of a city in the distance. Erza allowed herself a small smile as they looked down from the mountain pass, she could finally see the Guild that Rob told her about so many times before. A great building proudly displaying the symbol Rob had on his back. Goku's face split into a massive grin as he took in the smell of all of the different foods that was drifting upwards with the wind.

As one, the pair broke into a run.

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Fairy Tail, one of the strongest mage guild in all of Fiore. The majestic building was located at the far end of Magnolia, one of the greatest cities in the entire country. For years it was recognized as home of some of the lands most powerful mages, including the Master Makarov and Gildarts. Under Makarov's care the members of the guild all developed incredibly powerful bonds, they were all practically family. These bonds were the only thing keeping Cana at Gray's side as they searched for his clothes.

"I was looking away for two minutes, three tops. How the heck did you lose your clothing that quickly?" The brunette was glaring daggers at the nearly naked ice mage as they searched, annoyed that she had been dragged away from a hot meal before even getting the chance to touch it. Gray was indifferent to her anger, instead he was poking around a stack of barrels, hoping to get a glimpse of his wayward garments.

"Hey! I'm doing you a favor, it's rude to not say anything when someone is talking to you."

"Yeah, whatever. I don't know what happens, one moment my clothes are there, the next they just disappear.

"That's not what happens! You just strip them off and throw them wherever!"

"I do not! They just disappear when I'm not paying attention!"

"I can't believe how big of a moron you are!"

"What? My clothes just disappear all by themselves! How the heck does that make me a moron?" Cana was about to respond, but her carefully constructed rant on just how stupid he was got interrupted when a crumpled piece of fabric caught her eye.

"Aren't those your pants over there?"

"Finally! Good eye." Gray dodged around some of the other guild members and grabbed the pants, quickly pulling them on to his fellow mages' amusement. Once they were on and buttoned, Grey looked down, hoping to find his shirt.

"My shirts not here. We're going to have to keep searching."

"No way, I paid for that food over there and I'm going to eat it before it gets cold."

"What's wrong with cold food?"

"Says the ice mage."

"What has that got to do with anything?"

"Ice mages like everything cold, normal people actual enjoy it when their meals don't freeze their insides on the way down. Now you are going to go over there and sit with me while I eat, or you are going to have to buy me another plate!" The two children glared at each other for several moments, their eyes locked, waiting for the other to cave.

Gray broke first.

"Fine, you can eat your stupid food before we go try and find my shirt. But if my pants disappear again while you're eating, you have to help me find those too." Cana just rolled her eyes, smirking at her victory.

"Deal."

The pair sat down at Cana's empty table near the middle of the room, Gray grumbling to himself as he craned his head around, still trying to find his clothes. Cana just munched on her food quietly, trying to work out just how someone could manage to be as dense as the ice mage. He had to be the dumbest person she knew.

It was at that moment that the doors to the guild opened, drawing the attention of the pair out of their inner musing and towards the strange pair that were walking through the entrance.

The first was a girl with startlingly red hair. Her clothing was little more than rags, frayed and looking as though they could fall apart at any moment. She had a small bag slung over one shoulder, and a worn iron blade over the other. She was gazing around the guild, scanning each and every face as she walked forward. Her expression was hard, as though she was preparing herself for a fight.

The boy with her was the complete opposite. It was a wonder how he didn't get whiplash with how quickly he kept turning his neck, trying to take everything in at once. His eyes were wide with wonder, and a giant grin split his face. A small red staff was sheathed on his back, covered by a backpack slightly larger than the girl's.

The two stopped once they reached the center of the guild, the girl positioned slightly ahead of the boy. Cana looked her over and noticed a slight tremor in the redhead's hand. She was nervous about something.

"Hello, we are looking for Master Makarov. Is he here?" The girl's voice lacked any of the nervousness that her body betrayed, she sounded cool, calm and collected. The guild members regarded her for a moment, then Gray slid off of his chair and stepped forwards.

"Why are you looking for the old man?"

"I was sent here by an old friend of his, he told me to talk to the Master and see about joining this Guild."

"You want to join Fairy Tail? If an old friend of the Master sent you, why are you dressed up like you just broke out of an orphanage?"

"That is none of your business and you would do well to not question me about it." Gray saw the look of anger in the girl's eyes and backpedaled. If she really had been sent by a friend of Makarov's, then it would be a good idea not to insult her.

"You said that he sent you here. What about him?" The girl looked over to see her spikey haired companion staring up at the ceiling. After delivering a sharp elbow to his gut, she turned back to Gray.

"I got into some trouble on my way here, and he saved my life. His helping me cost him his home, so I asked him to come along with me." Gray opened his mouth to reply, but he was interrupted by a deeper voice behind him.

"I'm sure that's quite an interesting story, but it seems Gray has forgotten to ask you one of the most important questions. What are your names?" The girl looked over at the short man that had appeared on top of the bar, carefully regarding him before responding.

"I'm Erza Scarlet. My companion over there is named Goku." Said boy had wandered off and began exploring the building during the conversation, but out the sound of his name he turned to give the little man a wave and a big smile.

The old man looked at the pair for a moment before letting out a quiet chuckle.

"I'm Fairy Tail's Guild Master, Makarov. Tell me young one, who is this friend you spoke of that sent you to me?"

"An old man named Rob. He helped me out, and it's because of him that I first discovered how to access my magic." Makarov froze at the name.

"Rob… I haven't heard from him in years. Tell me child, where is he now?"

"He… he passed away far from here. He told me that I needed training in my magic, and that this is the best place for me to go."

Makarov closed his eyes, clearly stricken by the news. "I see…" he sighed. "That sounds like something Rob would say… very well child, I would be more than happy to welcome you both to Fairy Tail!" Erza's guarded expression cracked, and a look of genuine relief and happiness swept over her face. The red head looked around the room to see her friend's expression, then suddenly froze.

The sound of her palm smacking her forehead could be heard throughout the hall.

"Look Erza, I'm a ninja!" The assembled guild members turned to look at the young child, and for a brief moment a complete silence settled over the hall.

Then almost everyone in the building broke out in laughter.

Goku was standing on top of a table in the corner of the room, a black shirt tied around his head like a mask. Cana took all of a second to figure out where the shirt had come from, and the next second had her rolling around on the ground in a fit of giggles.

Gray stared at the young boy, his fists slowly tightening. His face was slowly turning red, and a burning rage filled his eyes.

"That's my shirt you idiot! Give it back right now!" Goku looked over at the boy, pulling the shirt off of his head and grasping it in one hand.

"Well why did you take it off?"

"I didn't! It just disappeared!"

"How did it disappear?"

"I don't know how it disappeared, it just vanished when I wasn't paying attention!"

"So you didn't notice that your shirt was gone?"

"I noticed! That's why I was looking for it!"

"You weren't looking for it, you were sitting at the table."

"I was taking a break!"

"You got tired looking building for your shirt? It's not very big, you must not have a lot of energy if you get tired that quickly." Gray's face now resembled a tomato, and Cana was struggling to remember how to breathe from her position on the floor.

"You… you… I'm gonna tear you apart!" Gray rushed forward his fist cocked back, his rage leaving him blind to anything besides the confused looking boy before him.

His charge was halted by the quick appearance of Erza's fist. Gray went flying sideways and crashed into a pillar, slowly sliding down it and landing on the ground with a thud.

"See, I thought he was weak!" Erza let out a snort, then a chuckle, and then she was just laughing at her friend. Goku looked from the stunned Gray to her and started laughing too.

"That… that was a cheap shot, I wasn't even going for you!" Gray had one hand clutching a large bump on his head and the other pointing an accusing finger at Erza. The happiness instantly left her face and she turned to face Gray with cold eyes.

"I regard any attack on my friends as an attack on myself, and I respond accordingly." Goku hopped over some tables and landed next to Gray, handing him the shirt.

"It's not that big a deal being weak, it just means that you need to train a whole bunch so you'll get really strong. I want to get really strong, just like Grandpa wanted me to. If you want, I'll train with you, we can get stronger together!" Gray's eyes narrowed and he rose to his feet.

"I am not weak, and I'll prove it! Fight me, right now!" Goku saw the hard determination in the boy's eyes, and he had only one response.

"Do I have to take my pants off too?" Startled, Gray looked down and discovered that his pants had once again vanished.

"DAMN IT!"

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Makarov desperately wanted to take young Erza aside in order to question her about his friends passing, but it was clear that now wasn't the time. Once he had managed to get everyone settled down about the outburst, it was decided that they may as well let the fight go through. Gray was absolutely set on battling one of the newcomers, and after Goku's comments on his strength, the conflict was inevitable.

Most adults would argue that letting two kids beat each other up was a terrible idea. Most people weren't Makarov, it was best to just let the brats beat each other up and hope for the best. The aged guild master had been able to delay the battle long enough for everyone to relocate outside. Makarov had lead the group a short ways from the city, coming to a stop at a small meadow. The guild members had assembled into a rough circle, plenty of room to watch the fight and dodge any stray attacks. Cana had taken some initiative and quickly made up a betting pool on the walk over. She was standing next to Gray on one end of the clearing, a pot of money in her hands and a devious look in her eyes. Goku stood across from them, quietly stretching out his muscles and preparing himself for the spar. Makarov smirked to himself; just the boy's movements indicated that he had a certain degree of experience, experience that Gray lacked. Still, Gray was quite the talented ice mage, any fighter could be taken down by a trick that was new to them. He'd just have to wait and see how Goku handled Gray's ice.

Erza was standing next to Makarov, her expression somewhere between annoyance and worry. The tiny man was having difficulty not laughing at her, he just couldn't understand how someone so young could so serious. She was the exact opposite of her traveling companion, who seemed to be as innocent and naïve as a baby. He had absolutely no sense of social grace, any degree of manners, and little knowledge of the world in general. In fact, from what had told him, fighting was the only thing the boy really knew.

Cana finished counting the bets she had collected and stepped out into the center of the circle, snapping Makarov out of his inner musing.

"Alright, all the bets are in, and it's time to start the match! To my left we have Fairy Tail's ice make wizard Gray!" The crowd erupted into cheers and applause, motivating Gray to take a bow. For the moment his clothes remained on his body, but everyone knew it was only a matter of time. Cana had even made an additional betting pool to see who could get the most accurate guess of how long Gray would take to start stripping.

"To my right is one of Fairy Tail's newest recruits… though we haven't actually given them the tattoo yet have we? Anyway, he's Goku!" The applause were slightly more subdued than those for Gray, the loudest coming from Makarov and Erza. Goku smiled slightly, but most of his attention was focused squarely on Gray. He had already assumed a fighting stance, his feet spread and one arm out in front of him at the ready. His other arm was behind his back, hovering inches away from the Power Pole. In contrast, Gray seemed totally relaxed, a confident smirk on his face. His body was loose, he hadn't even bothered to get himself into a ready stance yet.

"Ready… GO!"

Goku quickly dashed forwards, his fist cocked back and ready to strike.

"Ice Make: CANNON!"

Goku was sent flying back as a chunk of ice slammed into his face. He landed on his feet, his hair and clothing glittering with shards of ice. Goku was on his feet again quickly, ready to charge once more. He took a single step and froze. The color slowly drained from his skin, leaving him completely pale.

"COLD! COLD COLD COLD COLD COLD!" Erza face palmed as her friend started hoping around in an attempt to warm up. The boy's arms were wrapped tightly around himself and he was shivering violently. Gray just looked at his opponent incredulously.

"Seriously? It's not that cold, what are you freaking out for?"

"A-a-are you j-j-joking? "I-It's, e-even colder th-than the t-t-time that Grandpa p-p-pushed me i-i-into a g-g-glacier!" Cana was the first to decipher Goku's reply through his shivering, prompting her to ask "Where did your Grandpa find a glacier to push you into?" Goku took a moment before responding, sighing in relief as he managed to return feeling to his numb limbs.

"Well, Grandpa wanted ice one day, so he told me to wait for him at the house while he went north for a few days. When he came back he was carrying a big glacier, it was three times the size of our house! He asked me if I wanted to see it up close, and when I said yes he threw me into it!" Cana opened her mouth to respond, then closed it. She tried to talk again, but was unable to think of an appropriate response. Gray saved her the trouble.

"Hey, are we fighting or not? Come on, it was just getting interesting!" As Gray talked he casually lifted his shirt off his chest, bringing out a series of happy cheers and disappointed muttering throughout the assemble mages. Cana barely managed to contain a triumphant cheer as Grey's pants followed his shirt. Her wallet was getting fat tonight.

"Oh yeah, sorry I got distracted. Here we go!" Goku leapt forwards, catching the annoyed ice mage by surprise. Gray's head snapped back as Goku's fist connected with his face, sending him tumbling backwards. Before Goku could press his advantage Gray rolled to his feet, his magic flaring to life around him.

"Ice Make: CANNON!"

Goku's Power Pole was in his hands in an instant, swinging through the air to connect with the attack like a baseball bat. The chunk of ice went flying off towards the crowd, slamming into a bored looking blond teen and sending him to the ground. A few of the girls snickered as the boy spat out grass from his unplanned trip downwards. Across the circle Makarov sighed

There was no way his grandson would let that go.

Grey snarled in frustration as Goku dodged two more cannon blasts, the smaller boy was just too nimble to hit unless he was caught off guard. Switching tactics, Grey dissolved his cannon and raised his arm into the air.

"Ice Make: SWORD!" An icy blade sprang into existence, a faint mist radiating off its entire length.

"Let's see how well you fight if that stupid stick of your's get chopped to bits!" The two boys charged in, throwing all of their power into their attacks. The Power Pole blocked the momentum of the blade, then swung upward, knocking the icy sword sideways. Grey quickly brought it back up, deflecting a jab that would have caught his gut and swung the sword out towards Goku's chest. The spikey haired boy deflected the blow, and then swung downwards straight towards the blade's hilt. Grey's eyes widened in shock as the sword shattered, sending shards of ice flying in every direction. He quickly threw out his hand, sending a burst of ice to spread out along the Power Pole's length. Goku quickly released his weapon and jumped upwards, spinning over Grey's head and landing back to back with him. Simultaneously they swung around to face each other, fists clenched and determination in their eyes.

As their fists collided together, Goku let out a cry of "ROCK". He dodged under Grey's next punch and lunged jabbed his hand towards the Ice Mage's face with two fingers extended. "SCISSORS!" Grey let out a cry of pain as Goku's fingers jabbed into his eyes, sending him stumbling backwards. The Ice Mage desperately rubbed at his eyes, trying to restore his vision. Goku stiffened his hand, launched a powerful palm strike straight for Grey's forehead.

"PAPER!" Grey's blurry eyes were just able to see the outline of Goku's hand before the blow struck. Then everything went dark.

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Gray woke up hours later on a bed in Fairy Tail's medical room. He slowly slid off the bed and eased his way to the floor. His head was throbbing from Goku's last attack, and his sense of balance was still shaky. He carefully made his way out towards the main room and saw a crowd surrounding the bar. Standing on top were Goku, Erza, and Makarov. Gray watched as Makarov presented the pair with the Fairy Tail symbol, placing it on Erza's left upper arm and Goku's right shoulder. There was a round of applause from the crowd, and both kids smiled towards the group. It was several minutes before Goku noticed Gray standing across the room, and the second he saw the Ice Mage the young boy's face lit up in a massive grin. He leapt straight over the crowd and dashed over to Gray's side.

"That was such a good fight! Your powers are really funny though, Grandpa never showed me anything like them. You are so much stronger than I thought, we have to spar more later!" Grey stared at Goku for a moment, thinking briefly that he should really dislike the kid for beating him. But Goku's happy attitude was contagious, and soon Gray found himself grinning right back at him.

"Alright we can fight again, but you better be ready because next time you're the one who is going to end up in the hospital!" Goku laughed and turned back towards the group, looking for either Erza or food, whichever he could find first. Before he get far, Gray reached out and tapped his shoulder. Goku looked back, and saw his new friend looking somewhat hesitant.

"Hey Goku…?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you seen my clothes?"

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DRAGON BALL Z EPIC ANNOUNCER MAN VOICE MAN: NEXT TIME ON ESCALATION! GOKU AND ERZA HAVE SETTLED IN WITH THEIR GUILDMATES AND NEW FAMILY, BUT NEW PROBLEMS ARE ON THE HORIZON. WITH THE ARRIVAL OF A POWERFUL TRIO OF NEW MAGES, CAN ERZA STEP UP TO THE CHALLENGE? CAN GOKU SURVIVE THE JOB SET BEFORE THEM? FIND OUT IN THE NEXT CHAPTER: A FIERCE RIVALRY!


	5. A Fierce Rivalry

Chapter 5: A Fierce Rivalry! 

Goku grit his teeth, struggling with all his might as he stared down his latest foe.

"A...is… for…ap…appllllleee." Goku read off the small children's book that was challenging him with its colorful pictures and difficult words.

His struggle had begun when Erza had learned that he had absolutely no ability to read. Erza had declared that this was a critical skill for any mage and that he would learn to do so. The young knight had dragged him to the guild library to try and teach him herself.

This plan had not worked; it turned out Erza did not possess much skill in reading herself, the Tower of Heaven being largely ineffective at providing children with an education. What she had learned prior to being captured had begun to fade away, and she was left struggling with her incomplete recollection.

They had almost gotten through the alphabet before Goku decided that he was bored, and that the food the guild was serving looked much more entertaining. The subsequent argument had drawn the attention of the only other person in the library. A short, blue-haired girl, looking about a year or two younger than them had come over and introduced herself as Levy McGarden. Then she asked if they needed help.

"I am trying to teach this scatterbrained idiot how to read."

"Hey don't blame me, reading and words are boring."

"I already told you that being able to read is a critical skill."

"Why? I can't punch people with words."

"Actually Goku." Levy had interjected, "Words can actually be quite powerful."

"…Powerful?" that had gotten his attention.

"Yes. Using the power in words is actually the foundation of my magic."

"So you actually punch people with words?"

"Um… not really, here let me show you." The girl smiled and waved her hands in the air a word appeared in the air which then shifted into a ball of light. Illuminating the shelves around them with a soft glow.

"My magic is all about language and words. The word I wrote was the word for light, so that's the form my magic took. Now watch what happens when I combine it with the word for dance." She waved her hand again another word appear and was sucked into the glowing ball. Which began to zoom around the room, bouncing off of books and shimmying up the side of bookcases. "By understanding words, and what they mean I can create almost any kind of effect I want."

"Cool! So you can make anything you want, even food?"

"Well, yes I can, but the magically created food is never as tasty or as filling as real food, it just tends to be empty calories. But, if you learn how to read then you can read menus at restaurants. It will be easier for you to get food that way."

"So I can get more food if I learn how to read. Well, that does sound good, but it's still a lot of work.

"Well, how about we play a game with it? I can use my magic to make some of the things you are reading, help make things interesting."

"That sounds really cool! Could you make a dinosaurs like the ones back by my home, they are really fun to play with, and they taste really good!"

"Dinosaurs?" Levy blinked. "Where did you say you come from?"

"The mountain."

"…Anyway, I can't really make big things like that. What I can make is limited to how much energy I have. I'm not very strong, so I can't really make big objects." She waved her hands to demonstrate. A word formed in the air before forming into a bunny-sized T Rex that gave a squeaky roar and started chasing the ball of light around the table.

"That sounds fun! Why don't we make it a trade? You teach me how to read, and I help you train and get stronger!"

"Really? That sounds great." they shook hands to seal the deal. "So how far have you gotten?"

"We had just gotten the letter w" said Erza.

"Why is it called double-u, when it looks like two v's? Shouldn't it be called double-v?"

"Be quiet Goku."

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Erza smiled as Goku slowly continued to work through new words. When he finally was able to piece together "apple" Levy magically created a few of the red fruits, and the trio enjoyed enjoyed a brief snack break. They ate in silence while watching the antics of Levy's tiny T-Rex. The mini dinosaur had finally caught the ball of light and eaten it, only for the magic of the light to combine with it, causing the lizard to start glowing and moonwalking across the table

When the food was finished, Erza excused herself, leaving the two to their reading lesson she made her way towards the main doors. The red haired girl left the guild and began strolling down the street. As she walked, the smile began to fade from her face. She kept walking for several minutes, finally stopping when she reached the river bank right on the edge of the town. She slowly sat down, curling up into herself, gazing down into the running water.

When she had been on the road, she had bottled everything up, first focusing on survival, then helping her friend. When she was in the guild she just hid how she felt, she didn't want to give anyone any reason to ask about her past. Goku was naïve enough not to question the condition he found her in, and probably didn't even consider it important enough to bother mentioning to anyone else.

But every once in a while, she just needed to find time to be alone. Time to stop holding back, and just let everything go.

Her eyes watered as she thought back to the events at the tower, back to Jellal's betrayal, and the look on the faces of her friends as she was forced to leave them behind to save their lives. Those looks stayed with her, keeping her up at night and haunting her during the day. For the third time since joining the guild months ago, Erza cried.

It was another ten minutes before she collected herself, forcing herself to her feet once more. The mask of calm returned, and the young girl began making her way back towards the guild. As much as it hurt, and as much as she hated herself for not getting the rest of the slave workers out of the tower, she would not allow it to affect her new life. She would mourn her friends, but she would not let her grief control her. There was little she could do to help them. She had new friends now, new people to care about. A new home. No matter what, she would not allow herself to fail twice. She just couldn't.

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"Ice Make: HAMMER!" Gray launched a sledgehammer of ice at the white haired girl, letting out a grunt of anger as she ducked under the blow. The grunt turned into a cry of pain when she dashed forward and landed a hard kick to the gut. He doubled over from the blow, but he was quick to bring his hands back up towards his smirking opponent.

"Ice Make: CANN-urk!" Before he could blink the girl closed the distance, landing a massive punch across his jaw that sent him sprawling on the ground. He slowly tried to rise to his feet, but his arms gave out when she slammed her foot into his back.

"Ha, that was pathetic. It's a good thing we came to this guild when we did, otherwise who knows just how weak it would be. What do you think Elfman? Lisanna? Are we really sure we want to join up with such a weak group?" The girl turned to face two more white haired kids, both looking down meekly. Cana stood just besides them, shocked at how easily Gray had been defeated. Her hands slowly reached towards her pack of cards, hoping to be able to help her friend.

"Unless you want to join your buddy on the ground, I really wouldn't do that." Cana's eyes widened with fear as the girl turned to glare at her, shivering under the killing intent. Lisanna stepped forward, placing herself between the scared girl and her sister's wrath.

"Come on Mirajane, big sis, we want to join up with them, not beat the entire guild into submission."

"But I bet it will be a lot easier for us once everyone knows that we are the top dogs. But speaking of joining up, where do you suppose the guild master is hanging out? I want to get my mark, I already know just where I want to put it." Below her, Gray was slowly trying to push himself up, his body shaking from the exertion. Mirajane felt the movement below her and ground in her heel.

"Just give it up down there, it's obvious that you're outmatched. Maybe if you ask real nice I'll let you up."

"I think you should let him up right now."

The three white haired kids turned to see Goku and Levy exiting the library. Levy backed away, anxiously looking at the growing confrontation, but Goku's face was completely impassive. His eyes were locked with Mirajane's completely unflinching as he stared her down. The girl matched his gaze evenly, then barked out a laugh.

"Oh, another weakling crawling out of the woodworks? Come on short stuff, I've already beaten your buddy, what makes you think you'll do any better?" To her surprise, Gray was the one to answer with a laugh of his own.

"He'll do better, he beat me too. He's strong enough to beat you too." Mira looked over the spiky haired boy with a critical eye, observing his build, his stance, his posture, and the challenge that seemed to blaze in his eyes.

"Yeah I don't buy it. He looks like a complete wimp, and that look on his face makes him look like a complete moron. Bet that's why you were hanging out with that little nerdy girl hanging out behind you, taking some remedial lessons?"

"I was learning how to read."

"Learning how to…? Oh geez you really are a complete idiot aren't you? This won't even be a fight, it's a mercy beating. Maybe if I smack you around hard enough I'll be able to knock something loose in your head."

"You would do well to stop harming and insulting my friends, before I am forced to make you stop myself." Mirajane rolled her eyes as she tilted her head to face the entrance of the guild.

"You guys are just crawling out of the woodworks now huh? And a ginger this time, fun! I have to ask though, what's with the armor. Are you that desperate to hide your body from everyone, you so ugly that you don't want to give anyone a good look?"

"As opposed to you dressing up wearing your little sister's shirt? In case you are too dim to figure it out on your own, that shirt doesn't fit you."

"Hey! Who do you think you are, talking to me like that?"

"My name is Erza Scarlet, and I will not stand for you doing anything to my friends." Mirajane looked down at Gray, then with a sneer on her face she released him, marching over to get right up in Erza's face.

"Got pretty pathetic friends, for them to have to rely someone like you to stand up for them. Between the wimpy snowman and your brain dead boyfriend, a wannabe amazon must get the leadership pretty easy." She turned to look over at Goku, who had dashed over to help Gray to his feet.

"What do you think dumbass, why are you following around the tin can? Is it just because you are too dumb to know any better? Or maybe you are hoping for some future development with her, hmm?" Goku ignored her for a moment, handing Grey off to Cana to make sure that he was taken care of. Then he turned to face her, his expression hard.

"I may not be very smart, I don't even understand everything you just said. But I don't like people who mock my friends. You may be stronger than everyone else in the guild, you may not be, but everyone here is my friend. If you are joining the guild, then you three are going to be our friends too, so you shouldn't act like this. Why don't you just calm down, and we can go find Master Makarov so you guys can join?"

"Are you kidding me? Why should I be friends with you guys, just like that? You want to be friends, you have to earn it. Right now all I see is a bunch of losers who aren't even worth it." Goku opened his mouth to reply, but before he had a chance to say anything, Erza moved. Goku had extended an olive branch, and this little witch had thrown it right back in his face, that was unacceptable. With a growl she grabbed Mirajane's shoulders, spinning her around so they were face to face.

"Enough! I will not allow you to speak like this any longer!"

"If you want me to stop so bad, make me!"

"If you insist." Erza's armored fist slammed Mirajane's jaw, sending her tumbling to the ground with a resounding clang. The white haired mage quickly rolled to her feet, charging forwards and decking Erza with equal force. Mira chased after Erza as she tumbled backwards, kicking out at the red head. Erza brought up a gauntlet covered arm to block the blow, smirking at Mirajane's curses when her toes smashed up against the unyielding metal.

The enraged girl was quick to retaliate, knocking the swordswoman's legs out from under her and then falling on top of her, pinning her to the ground. Before Erza could shake her off, Mira began pounding on her, forcing the red head to throw her arms up in a desperate attempt to protect her head.

"Power Pole, Extend!" Mira let out a surprised yelp as the magical red staff slammed into her side, knocking her off of Erza and slamming her into the wall. Erza was quick to return to her feet, turning to glare at Goku.

"Do not interfere!"

"But you were in trouble, I was helping out."

"I do not want help! This is my fight, let me do this on my own!" Mirajane rose to her feet, glaring angrily at the martial artist.

"You heard her, this is a one on one. Butt out! Go play with your loser friends or something, this is none of your business!" Goku looked between the two girls and nodded, backing out of the way. Erza gave a nod of appreciation, grabbed a nearby chair, and spun around to smash it over Mirajane's head. The girl crashed to the ground with a groan, clutching the growing lump on the top of her skull.

"WHAT ARE YOU MORONS DOING TO MY GUILD HALL?" Everyone froze, one by one slowly turning up towards to see Master Makarov glaring down at them from the second floor balcony. Erza looked around guiltily, she and Mirajane had broken many tables and chairs smashing each other around, and some of the older guild members had positioned themselves off to the corners of the building, watching the spectacle. Not to mention she was still standing over the fallen Mirajane with a chair held over her head. There would be no ducking responsibility here.

"My apologies Master, my were having a… discussion and things got out of hand." Makarov snorted, looking between Erza and Mirajane then at the chair in Erza's hands. The young knight followed his gaze, and then hastily put the chair down.

"That much is obvious. However, my question is why are you fighting someone who is visiting this guild?" Erza hesitated for a moment, and Mirajane took the opportunity to speak up.

"We aren't just visiting, we are trying to join up. I wanted to see how powerful some of the guild members were, see how you guys stack up."

"Oh-ho, a challenge then? Tell me, what did you think?" Mira looked around the guild, taking in the damages and the people gathered around her. A smirk graced her face as she looked back up towards the small man.

"Well, they all look like idiots, but at least they like to fight, one or two of them can even pack a punch. I think I can speak for my siblings when I saw that this is a place we can call home. I speak for myself though when I saw that I'm going to enjoy kicking Ms. Tin Can around all the time." Makarov quickly raised his hand, cutting off Erza before she could retort.

"I'm sure you'll have plenty of time for that later, though I hope that while you are beating each other senseless, you at least attempt to develop some sort of friendship. Now what do you say we make it official, and give all three of you the mark of Fairy Tail?"

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If there was a single thing the members of Fairy Tail loved, it was throwing wild crazy parties. The celebration of the three new members into the guild lasted for the rest of the day and far into the night, with most of the members passing out in the building long before they had the chance to drag themselves home. It wasn't until late into the morning that everyone was up and functional again, and thus it wasn't until the early afternoon that Makarov summoned the younger guild members to meet with him. Goku, Erza, Gray, Cana, Levy, and the Strauss siblings gathered together around the old man as he stood atop the bar.

"So, I hope everyone enjoyed the party last night. Especially since, thanks to certain members here, our food stores are almost completely gone." Makarov gazed around the group, letting out a small snicker at the sheepish cough that followed.

"Anyways, since you are all here I've decided to find you guys a little team building exercise. There have been a reports of an unknown witch terrorizing a small territory down south known as Cameolot. Supposedly this witch has gathered a group of monsters and is terrorizing the town. We've been requested to send a group of 5 mages down there to take care of the situation. I've arranged things so that you will be picked up at the train station in town and driven out to the general area of the witch, that way you won't have to deal with the local ruler.

"Why do you not want us to deal with the local ruler?" asked Erza, eyebrow raised. Normally when mages went to deal with a threat, the local leader would be the one they would contact.

Makarov looked at them for a moment, and then made a face. It wasn't just a scowl, or frown. It was a grimace of utter disgust that perfectly showed his distaste for the subject at hand.

"Trust me kiddos." He replied, distaste dripping from his tone, "you do not want to have to work with the local ruler. In the past I've sent people down to spend a day with him as my absolute worst form of punishment. This punishment has grown so hated over the years, everyone in the guild simply refers to it as "THAT." Until such a time comes around that I actually need to resort to it, you won't have any interaction with him at all."

The looks on all of the children varied in different levels of curiosity of fear on what exactly "THAT" was. Looking around, Erza was the one to bring up the next point of discussion.

"Excuse me Master, you said that only five of us would be going? You have more of us here than you need. If we really only need five, then there is no real reason for our newer members to come along." Mirajane threw her a look of disgust before throwing a retort.

"I don't see any real reason that YOU need to come along. The three of us already have a real powerful team on our own, I bet that we wouldn't even NEED five members to get the job done. If the other two are really necessary, then we'll take along the two boys. The stripper can keep our drinks cool, and I bet dumbo makes for some good entertainment."

Makarov looked down and moaned as the two strong headed girls clashed once again. He expanded his hands to grab onto both girls, slamming them apart and holding them down.

"Well one thing is for sure, BOTH of you are going on this mission. Working together, fighting to protect yourselves and those who fight besides you, with any luck you will develop a strong bond." The pair's cries of protest were quickly silenced as the Master tightened his grasp, forcing the air from their lungs.

"No arguments, I both of you show true potential to become truly powerful as you mature, and I won't have you doing so as enemies. Now then, all we must do now is determine who will be accompanying you. Cana, I think you would be useful on this mission, we could use someone level headed enough to potentially keep these two from killing each other." Cana squired in her seat, looking down nervously.

"Actually master, I was hoping to remain at the guild for the next few days. I heard that Gildarts is supposed to be back soon, and I was hoping to be able to see him."

"That is fine child, I thought that might be your answer. That's why I asked Levy to come here. Levy, would you be willing to fill in for Cana as the group mediator?"

"I would Master, but what about Goku? Erza and I were both working on helping him learn to read and write, it wouldn't be very productive to leave and just stop for now. Who knows how long we could be gone, he might end up forgetting everything before we are back!"

"Very well then, Goku may go as well." His eyes shifted to look at the boy, now sporting a wide grin at the opportunity to go on another adventure.

"I expect you to continue to study hard while you are on the road boy, is that understood?"

"Sure thing, this will be great!" Mirajane's look grew darker as the conversation continued, until she finally burst out.

"What about Lisanna and Elfman?! If we can only take five; that means that one of them can't come with us!" Makarov looked over the two younger members of the trio, focusing mostly on Lisanna.

"I'm sorry about this, but I'm not planning on letting Lisanna go on any missions anytime soon. She is a bit younger than the children I normally take in, and while I'm sure you are all experience, I do not want any accidents to take place. Elfman, you may go if you want, but your sister stays here."

"I don't like that, I know Mira can take care of herself, but I don't want to leave Lisanna by herself. If she isn't going, then I won't be either." Mirajane opened her mouth to retort but Elfman was quick to cut her off.

"You're the strongest of us Mira, you can do things we can't. One day I want to be strong enough that I can always protect you both, but for now I can only protect Lisanna. When we have proven ourselves we will all go together again, but for now we all need to develop our abilities so that we can always have each other's backs!" Mira gave a soft smile at her brother, giving him a short but warm hug.

"Alright bro, you hold down the fort for me, make sure our little sis is safe. I'll take care of this big bad witch, and I'll bring you guys both an awesome story and a souvenir from the trip!" Makarov nodded at the pair before turning to face Gray.

"That leaves you as the last member of this adventure. I trust that you have no urgent matter to take care of outside of finding your shirt?" Gray looked down and gritted his teeth to contain a string of curses. He quickly grabbed Cana from her chair and dashed off. Makarov gave a hearty chuckle as the two began crawling around searching under tables.

"Alright then everyone, the plan is set, and you leave at noon tomorrow. Until then rest up and back your bags, you are all in for quite the trip!"

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DRAGON BALL Z EPIC ANNOUNCER MAN VOICE MAN: NEXT TIME ON ESCALATION! THE NEWLY ASSEMBLED TEAM IS OFF, AND SO BEGINS THEIR NEXT ADVENTURE! BUT WHO IS THIS MYSTERIOUS WITCH TERRORIZING CAMEOLOT, AND CAN THE YOUNG MAGES DEFEAT HER MONSTERS? FIND OUT IN THE NEXT CHAPTER: THE FORTUNTELLER!


	6. The Fortunteller

Erza sighed; this train ride was not shaping up to be enjoyable.

The team had gathered at the station, only to find the train had been running about an hour late. It had been a nightmare keeping the rest of the group out of trouble for a whole 60 minutes.

The train station had clear rules on public nudity, so she had to keep a constant eye on Gray in case he stripped. Goku was his usual ball of energy, bouncing around the station and causing trouble. He was very impressed by the trains, after the first one had gone by he had immediately got on the tracks to see if he could stop the next one from passing.

Erza wasn't sure what worried her more, Goku getting run over by a train, or that he would successfully stop one and destroy it in the process. Master Makarov was already annoyed about the time Goku had destroyed the guild kitchen; he made Goku take a whole bunch of jobs until he could pay for a new one. She could only imagine what would happen if he was forced to try and pay off an entire train.

But worst of all: Mirajane.

The girl was an absolute horror to be around. She was rude, crude, and arrogant, trying to start a fight with everyone around her. Her attitude had disturbed many civilians, and it was all the redhead could do to stop herself from starting a fight right there in the train station.

Levy was the only reason Erza hadn't already started breaking things. She was a quiet girl with a helpful attitude. After the third time Grey had attempted to strip, Levy had found a solution. The little word mage had written the word "Sticky" on all of Gray's garments, making it so that the ice mage couldn't remove his cloths without literally tearing them off of his body.

The spell also stuck Gray to a station bench when he sat down, but as far as Erza was concerned that just kept him out of trouble.

This strategy hadn't worked on keeping Goku out of trouble; he just muscled through the spell and started using it to walk up the walls and across the ceiling. But Levy had a solution for that as well, she had pulled out a book on exotic cuisine and distracted the hyperactive fighter by showing him some of the fancy meals that could be found in Cameolot. Goku was too busy drooling over the pictures to cause more trouble.

Which just left Mirajane. Levy was too terrified of the white haired girl to try to do anything about her. But Erza could keep the demon girl out of trouble as long as she didn't have to babysit any other idiots at the same time.

Finally, the train had arrived.

Once it started moving, Goku had immediately fallen asleep, his body slouching until he fell off his chair onto the floor. Grey was stuck to his seat, arms crossed and sulking but she saw no problem with that as long as he was quiet about it. Mirajane had taken the window seat and was staring out the window with a bored expression on her face and Levy was quietly reading a book.

Erza herself closed her eyes and considered the challenge ahead. This was the first time she had lead a mission with such a big team. Well, Makarov hadn't said she was in charge, but she just assumed he forgot to say so.

There was no way she was going to let this mission be a failure.

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Erza opened her eyes as the trains whistle sounded. She stood up, stretching her arms as the train began to slow down. Levy's spell on Gray had faded during the journey, and he, along with the rest of the group, joined her in preparing to depart. The only one who hadn't gotten up was Goku. The monkey boy was still passed out on the floor, a puddle of drool spreading out from his face.

"Goku wake up already, we're here." She prodded him with her foot, but he just rolled over muttering something about a punch bowl.

Erza's eyes narrowed.

Goku's eyes snapped open to the sensation of somebody stomping on his face, the images of his dreams still playing through his mind. A white creature rampaging throughout a city, a flash of pink slaughtering an entire world to the sound of laughter, and that same beam of blue light. The young boy blinked, the images fading into the sight of Erza's boot, raised over his face.

"I'm awake! I'm awake!" He yelled as he shot to his feet.

Levy was standing next to him, smiling sympathetically. Erza and Mirajane on either side of her. Gray was to his left, shouldering his bag as he prepared to depart the train. The entire group was collecting their belongings, making sure they have everything they would need for the rest of their journey going after the witch.

"Good. Come Goku, you slept right through the train whistle. Grab your stuff, if we don't get off the train fast enough then we are going to end up stuck here until the next stop." Goku nodded, quickly strapping his Power Pole onto his back and checking his pocket to confirm that the small orange dragon ball was still inside. The mages departed the train together, heading out of the station just outside of the city.

A giant sign saying "WELCOME TO CAMEOLOT" was placed directly before them, the T in the form of a giant sword. Far off in the distance the kids could see a giant stone castle, with massive decorative banners and signs all over the walls. Erza looked over the building with a critical eye.

"It looks quite impressive, but it doesn't look very practical, give me three trebuchets and I could level that castle in a day. Whoever built it clearly cared more about its looks. Do you suppose that has something to do with why Master didn't want us to meet the ruler here?" Mirajane looked at the building herself, then turned towards one of the guards positioned around the train station.

"Hey you, what's up with the guy who owns that palace?" The guard's face looked back at her blankly, before taking on a look of disgust, it was remarkably similar to the one Makarov had made the day before. Looking around, Erza noticed that several other people who had been within earshot of the question had also taken on the same look. They quickly moved away from the group.

"It's…he's… I'm afraid you'd have to talk to him yourself. If you excuse me, I'm working." The man quickly retreated, and the group looked at each other and shrugged. It wasn't like they had to worry about dealing with him anytime soon.

"So, where are we going now?" Gray asked.

"The master secured us transportation us to the village, said an old friend of his would give us a ride." Erza replied.

"How are we supposed to find this friend?"

"The masters instructions were quite clear, he said that the we are looking for a giant blue man with pointy shoes."

"That sounds pretty easy to find."

"Yes, additionally the master gave me a map to follow. This way."

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"This place is weird." Gray deadpanned.

The rest nodded in agreement, the city was like some sort of weirdo convention. The strangeness started when a red and gold robot crash-landed in front of them. It had gotten back to his feet grumbling.

"Jarvis, remind me to punch Thor for telling me that this place would be fun."

"I would advise against hitting him sir, you would break your arm."

The robot grumbled and shot blue light out of its legs as it took off back into the sky. Everyone had been so distracted by the robot that Erza was taken by surprise when the map was snatched out of her hand. She had whirled around to see a raccoon in a blue outfit hurrying away.

"Thief" she roared, chasing after the swindling rodent. The others had hurried to keep up as the thief ran into a side alley, only for the raccoon to use a hooked golden cane to swing himself up onto a roof. He waved cheerfully back at them.

"Bye-bye ladies" Goku wiped out his power pole and shot himself onto the roof as the raccoon disappeared from sight. After a minute, Goku came back.

"Sorry guys, the raccoon guy got away."

"Now what are we supposed to do?" asked Gray.

"I think we should get something to eat."

"Goku, you had that grumpy burger from that yellow talking sponge not five minutes ago."

"So? I'm hungry again."

"You're always hungry, and now we're lost." Erza growled, hitting Goku over the head.

"Lost? Well that's no good." the group looked around and saw a cat lounging on a fire escape. It was a weird cat, fat with purple stripes running down its entire body. It turned its head and grinned up on them, an eerily human grin that stretched all the way across its face. "Somehow you've strayed and lost your way, would you like some help today?"

The group looked at each other, then shrugged. "We are looking for a blue man with pointy shoes."

"Oh I know him. I think, a happy freak." The cat grinned and pointed his tail to their left. "Follow the path till you find the house that looks like a lamp. That's were you will find the freak you seek."

"Why do you call him a freak?" Levy asked.

"Oh, we're all freaks here. A freak here, a freak there. Why I can't even look in the mirror without getting freaked. But I digress, good luck with seeking your freak." The cat faded from view until only his sparkling grin remained floating in midair, then winked out of sight.

They followed the path the cat had pointed for about twenty minutes until they came upon a house that looked exactly like a giant lamp. Erza stalked forward and knocked on the door. Which opened a crack.

"Yes?" a voice asked. "I'm afraid I'm not interested in any cookies, it will go right to my thighs."

"We were sent by Master Makarov." Erza said through gritted teeth, she was starting to get sick of this place.

"Maky sent you? Well why didn't you say so!" the door flew open and the voice was revealed. He was a blue man with poofy pants and shoes that had pointed tips curling inward. He grinned when he saw them. "Come on in. you must be looking for transportation, correct?"

"Yes. How are you going to help?" Erza replied as the group moved into the house. It was full of a bunch of weird knickknacks that looked like they came from all over the world. The floor was covered in a plush carpet.

"With style!" The man pointed to the ceiling, which vanished. Suddenly they felt the carpet lift them off the ground and flew up above the buildings. There was a poof of smoke and suddenly the man was wearing a flight attendants uniform. "Hello people, you can call me Genie. Thank you for flying with us today, and if you would like to get off in the case of emergency, please note that exits are located on all sides. Parachutes are not provided, and there will be no in flight movies, because my projector is broken. Now let's go!"

With a sudden jolt, the carpet started zipping through the sky as the mages desperately tried to hold on.

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"So you met the master in a pie eating contest?" Genie nodded, smiling at their skeptical looks

"Yep, Maky and I go way back. I tell ya, he's never had a friend like me. Oop well looky here, we've arrived." Genie exclaimed as the carpet finally slowed down. "See those rocks? Just go north past them and you'll be in the area that witch has been attacking in no time. You guys want me to stick around to give you a ride back?"

"We have already taken up enough of your time, we shouldn't impose on you anymore. Don't worry about us, we will find our own way back."

"Well… alright. Good luck to all of you, don't be a stranger." The djinn wrapped the carpet around his neck like a cape. "Genie away!" he yelled as he soared off into the distance. Once he had faded from sight they glanced around at each other, picked up their supplies and began walking.

Mirajane glanced around at the group and couldn't shake the slight feeling of isolation, Levy was trying to make up a few lessons to pass the time with Goku and Gray was having a quiet conversation with Erza. She was walking between the two groups, near them but not truly with them. Normally she traveled with her siblings, so she always had someone to talk to if she wanted, but they weren't here right now.

"So… uh, why did all of you people decide to join up with Fairy Tail?" she asked awkwardly. Erza glanced over suspiciously, but Goku was quick to give an enthusiastic response.

"I want to become really strong like my Grandpa! He taught me a whole lot about fighting and fishing and cooking and how to live out in the woods, and I want to become the best fighter I can be, just like he wanted!" Mirajane looked out of Goku out of the corner of her eye, a slight smile appearing on her face.

"So you want to be better at beating people up? Heh, I can support that. What about the rest of you?" Levy looked over with a bright smile.

"Well, I decided to join up so I could learn how to control my abilities. I was just writing in a journal one day, and the next thing I knew the words started coming of the pages. I was writing about the ocean, and accidently flooded the house with seawater. Now I have better control so I can keep reading and writing. I have tons of fun reading all of the cool magic books they keep in the guild!"

"Your entire goal for being a mage and joining a guild is just to become a better writer? Okay, that answer was so boing I nearly fell asleep. What about you two?" Erza and Gray looked uncomfortably at one another, both hoping the other would take the initiative. After a few seconds Gray sighed, bowing his head down as he continued walking.

"I'm keeping a promise to an old friend. She asked me to go find myself a guild where I could make friends and meet other powerful people." Mirajane looked at Gray, waiting for him to continue, but the ice mage stayed silent.

"Don't really want to talk about it huh? I'm just going to assume you were the victim of some awful tragedy and just move on then. What about you Red? You could have just joined up with the army with that fancy little tin can of yours, why join a guild?"

"Someone important to me wanted me to join."

Another long pause.

"Alright then, two people with tragic backgrounds they don't want to share, a bookworm, and a happy go lucky idiot. Well, maybe you can make some decent distractions while I beat up the witch.

A sudden cackling filled the air, a maniacal laugh that brought the group to a sudden halt, huddling together at the ready.

"Tell me my dear, who said you were even facing a witch at all?"

A sudden wave of light caught the entire group off guard, quickly overtaking them and covering their bodies. When the light faded their surroundings had completely changed. Before there had been nothing but sand and rocks, now they stood before a massive arena, positioned right alongside a large pond. Beyond that was some sort of temple, and hovering directly above the stadium was what could only be their target. A small woman, barely two feet tall sat on top of a floating crystal ball, only slightly smaller than herself. Her face was covered in a mass of great, saggy wrinkles, and her teeth were yellowed with age.

"Hehehe… so kiddos, what are you doing up in my neck of the woods? Are you my next set of challengers?"

"We are mages of Fairy Tail, sent here to stop you and your monsters from terrorizing the people of Cameolot." The old woman smiled at Erza, showing gaps in her grin where teeth had rotted out.

"Never heard of Fairy Tail, but you must be worth some entertainment if you were sent here to face me. I am Fortuneteller Baba, and I run things around here. I don't know about terrorizing anyone though, a few people came here, ended up in my tournament in an attempt at winning the prize, and a few people ended up dead. It's nothing worth complaining about, if those people were actually any good then they wouldn't have lost their fights now would they?" Goku's ears perked up as Baba was talking, a look of excitement filling his eyes.

"Tournament? Fights?"

"Yes, I hold fighting tournaments here. I have a collection of some of the most diverse fighters on the planet gathered here with me, and I challenge travelers to face the gauntlet and receive a prize. Though, ever since I came here, I've found that I've gotten a lot more business than usual. Its put me in such a good mood, I even sent my brother back home without spending some time tormenting him first! Though I did take a few choice goodies from him…"

"Can we enter the tournament?"

"Wait, no we don't want to-"

"Of course you can! You said you had some sort of job to get rid of me right? You beat my fighters, I go home. You lose, I get to bring your souls into the next world. How's that for a deal?"

"I don't think-

"DEAL!"

WHAM! Erza pinched the bridge of her nose as Goku tried to pull his head out of the ground. In the span of a few seconds of idiocy they had gone from facing a single old woman to being forced into a fight to the death with a bunch of monsters. She quickly surveyed the rest of the group, trying to determine their options. Levy's face was set, but her body was trembling. She wasn't experienced in having to fight for her life, and her nerves might be a problem. Grey's hands were in his pockets, and he looked bored. He had already shown that he knew how to fight, and wouldn't have too much trouble. Goku of course wouldn't be an issue, and she was confident in her own skills.

When she looked at Mirajane though, Erza was surprised to see that the pale haired girl looked almost as excited as Goku. She had definitely been in similar situations before, and she liked it. The gleam in her eye, the slight upturn of her lips, her stance, everything indicated an experienced fighter preparing themselves for battle. Satisfied, Erza nodded to herself and turned back to face the witch.

"So, what are the rules of this tournament?"

"Hehehe… The five of my monsters will fight the five of you children. You will fight one on one elimination matches. When an opponent goes down, then the victor will stay in to battle the next fighter of the other side. A fighter will keep going until they are eliminated or choose to withdraw. You are eliminated if you get knocked out, fall out of the ring, or are unable to continue fighting for any reason. We will keep going until one side is completely eliminated, last team standing wins. Any questions?" The kids shook their heads and Baba smiled down at them.

"THEN LET"S BEGIN!"

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"What do you mean I'm going first?!" Levy shrieked at Erza, her eyes wide with panic.

"In battles like this, you generally start with your weakest fighter and then work up from there. The Fortuneteller will also start with her weakest, so you will have a decent chance at winning the fight."

"I don't really even know how to fight! Goku hasn't taught me anything yet!"

"Just consider this an early test of your abilities. You had Goku try and show everything he knew on his own first before teaching him right? This is sort of like that."

"I guess… but are you sure that I'll be fighting the weakest monster? Have you done something like this before?"

"No, I actually read it in a book."

"Wait, didn't I give you a book like that?"

"Yes you did."

"Erza, that book was a tragedy genre, all the main characters died in their fights!"

"Levy. That was a book, this is real life, try not to mix up the two."

"But… you!"

"I have full confidence in your abilities, now get into the ring. The Fortuneteller is starting to look impatient." Erza pushed the young mage forwards, smiling supportively as the girls desperate pleas fell on deaf ears. Levy nervously edged her way to the center of the stage, her eyes darting back and forth in a desperate search for escape.

Baba lowered her crystal ball down before the girl and began to speak.

"We are all set to begin the first round! For your opponent young lady, I have selected my most bloodthirsty combatant!" Erza completely missed the withering glare that was sent her way, all of her attention was on polishing a scuff on her armor.

"FANGS, YOU'RE UP! GET OUT HERE AND PROVE TO ME THAT YOU ARE WORTH WHAT I'M PAYING YOU FOR!"

A small bat flew out of the window of the palace, squeaking as it flew towards the ring. The creature flew straight at the ring and landed directly in front of Levy. Levy looked down at the bat, then shrieked as it vanished in an explosion of smoke. In the bat's place stood a thin, pale man. He was completely shirtless, showing off a torso that looked like it had starved to death. The man was dressed like a boxer, with baggy exercise shorts and bulky gloves designed for dealing out punishment. What caught the young girl's attention though were his teeth. Each tooth was sharpened to a fine point and far larger than normal, with the canines each the size of a small dagger. Every single tooth was dripping with saliva, leaving a small trail dripping out of the man's mouth.

Levy gulped. "Are you… are you a vampire?" she asked, face going pale.

The man grinned, showing off his teeth even more. "Yes."

"You're… you're not going to romance me are you?"

The vampire blinked.

"Uh… no."

"Oh thank goodness." Levy sighed, some of the color returning to her face. "Those books are an insult to literature. I don't think I could deal with that kind of thing happening to me." The vampire just frowned not sure what she was talking about.

Baba flew off to the side of the ring.

"Alright, Fangs the Vampire vs. Levy the Fairy Tail mage! Let's get this started, FIGHT!"

Levy flinched away, throwing up her hands to cover her head. However no attacks came, and after several seconds she hesitantly peeked around her arms. Fangs was dancing alone on the other side of the ring, his body creaking noisily as he hummed to himself. Levy looked over at the vampire with an expression of disbelief, then risked a look behind her to see Baba. The witch looked exasperated, but she made no move to intervene. The young mage quickly began strategizing, trying to remember every single thing she had ever read about vampires. They were supposed to have difficulty with sunlight, but it wasn't having any trouble at all, even in the middle of the desert, so that tactic was out.

At least he wasn't sparkling.

Vampires also couldn't cross running water, but that wouldn't help her win a fight…

"FANGS! GET IN THERE AND FIGHT ALREADY OR I'M NOT PAYING YOU AT ALL!" The boxer vampire stopped his dance, sending a shark-like grin over towards his employer. Then he moved.

All Levy saw was a flickering blur, and suddenly she was on the ground, clutching the side of her face and whimpering in pain. Fangs stood above her, reaching down to hoist her back to her feet. He slowly unhinged his jaw, bringing up his dripping, gleaming teeth up besides her throat. Thoughts flying a mile of minute, Levy brought her hand up and aimed it directly for the vampire's head. Her fingers flew through the air, forming the first word she could think of.

Garlic.

A single bulb of the vegetable popped into existence, flying towards Fangs and lodging itself in his mouth.

Fangs froze for a moment, and then shrieked.

Fangs dropped Levy, stumbling backwards crying in pain, his entire body shuddering as the substance attacked his insides. Seeing her advantage Levy quickly began writing once more, this time sending forth a small burst of air flying forwards to slam into the vampire's chest. With one last cry the undead man went flying through the air, splashing down into the body of water behind him. Baba was back in the center in an instant, glaring at the spot where the vampire had disappeared under the water.

"Fangs is out of bounds, the winner of the first round is Levy of Fairy Tail. Round two, your opponent will be See-Through the Invisible Man. Tell me child, do you want to continue fighting, or would you like to pass and have one of your friends handle the next battle?"

Levy brought her hand up to her still throbbing cheek and turned to look back at the rest of her group. Erza stepped towards the girl, motioning for her to come over.

"You have done your part, let the next person take over. You have shown that you are capable of fighting when you need to." Levy smiled and began to shakily make her way over to the group, her balance slightly off from the blow to her head. Goku jumped onto the arena and helped her back to the ground, congratulating her as they walked over. Mirajane then stepped forwards, her hands resting on her hips and a confident look in her eye.

"If you're all set then, how about I take this next one." She made to step up onto the stage, but stopped when Gray grabbed onto her shoulder.

"Why don't you just hold off for now. Out of everyone here, I'm the best chance at taking on someone invisible." Mira looked like she was about to protest, but just shrugged instead.

"Alright fine, you can take this guy on, but if you go down then I'm next."

"Sure thing, assuming I leave any left for you. I was thinking I could just clean up the rest of them by myself." The Fortuneteller laughed to herself when she heard that, earning a glare from Gray.

"Alright then tough guy, get in here and let's see if you are anything actually worth boasting about. Come on in and face your opponent. FIGHT!"

"Fight? How do you want me to fight someone who isn't even here"- WHAM! Gray groaned as he took a few steps backwards, clutching his jaw.

"Invisible, right. ICE MAKE: FLOOR!" Gray sent a concentrated burst of energy straight downward, coating the entire arena in a thick sheet of ice. There was a cry of surprise to his left, followed by the sound of someone slipping and falling to the ground. The very next second, Gray's hands were up and aimed in the general direction of the sound.

"ICE MAKE: CANNON!" The attack flew forwards and detonated, sending chunks of ice flying through the air. A few cracks in the ice appeared on the ground, showing the Invisible Man's path as he bounced and slid across the arena. See-Through stopped right over the edge of the water, barely stopping before he slid out of bounds. The man slowly made his way to his feet, trying to keep his balance. Once he managed to rise to his full height he looked up, straight at the incoming hammer. Gray smirked as he felt his icy weapon connect and send his opponent into the drink.

"Invisibility is pretty useless if I can hear you gasping like that. Hey old lady, I thought you said that these guys were supposed to be really tough amazing fighters? I'm not impressed so far." Baba looked at the ice mage for a moment, then started cackling again.

"Alright then, consider the warmups over then. Follow me back into the palace, and I'll show you the next location for the next round."

"Bring it on."

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Goku, Levy, Erza, and Mira stood with the Fortuneteller in a small viewing chamber, looking into a massive, poorly lit room. The room was mostly empty, just dark space, with a giant pool of boiling oil instead of a floor. However, on either side of the room were two massive statues, each over a hundred feet tall. Stone tongues were extended out of both statues mouths, touching together in the center of the room. Both of the statues mouths were actually doors, opening up so that one could stand on the narrow platform that the tongues provided. Gray stood on the tongue of the left statue, staring intently at the door across from him. After several moments Baba cleared her throat.

"ROUND THREE, GRAY OF FAIRY TAIL AGAINST BANDAGES THE MUMMY! FIGHT!" Gray continued watching the door, clenching his hands at his side as a giant, cloth covered man emerged from the shadows. The giant looked down at the ice mage for a moment, then let out a deep, booming laugh.

"Really Baba, you had to awaken me for a child? This little runt doesn't have a prayer against me. You are sentencing a child to a slow, torturous end."

"I don't know big guy, it's kind of hard to sound threatening while wearing toilet paper." Bandages snarled at the boy, clenching his hands together.

"You will pay for that insult." The mummy dashed forwards, swinging a massive fist straight at the ice mage's head. Gray brought up his arm to block, but Bandages attack still knocked him backwards, wincing as he felt the blow bruise his arm. Gray moved in, jumping up to kick at the mummy, but a massive hand closed around his leg, spinning him around to slam down into the ground. The mummy's massive foot slammed down into Gray's back, drawing out a cry of pain from the boy as the monster ground in his heel. The mummy lifted up his foot and kicked outwards, smashing into the mages' ribs and sending him tumbling over the side.

Gray spun downwards, racking his brain for any way to stop himself, until his decent was suddenly brought to a jolting halt. The battered boy looked up to see a bandage wrapped around his leg. He looked up to see the mummy grinning downwards at him, his arm outstretched and supporting the extended cloth that has caught him.

"Don't think you are done yet boy; that was way too fast for me to have enough pleasure in beating you. Now, get back up here!" With a heave Bandages brought Gray hurtling back up, straight for him.

"ICE MAKE: HAMMER!" Gray spun in the air to face upwards as he came back up, summoning his magical weapon once more and slamming it down on top of the mummy's head. The weapon impacted on the monsters head and shattered, sending shards of ice flying in all directions. Gray looked down at the hilt of his useless weapon and quickly jumped away, looking at his opponent for any sign of damage. The mummy stood unmoving, showing no reaction at all from the blow.

"Well boy, there's that energy you had before again. But you still lack the power. You should really surrender now, otherwise I might decide that I should start taking this seriously." Gray looked at the undead man for a moment, then he reached up and began unbuttoning his shirt. He continued to watch the mummy as he worked, finally getting the last button and tossing his shirt off to his friends in the waiting area. Goku grabbed the shirt and nodded at Gray, placing the clothing down carefully besides him.

"That's alright you undead freak, I'll be getting serious now as well!" Gray charged forwards, ducking under a punch from the mummy and landing a powerful uppercut to his jaw. The ice mage didn't let up, throwing up a wide variety of punches and kicks, forcing the mummy to take a few steps backwards as he blocked and dodged all of the attacks. When Gray sensed that they were getting near the end of one of the walkways, Gray leapt over the mummies head and landed on top of the statue.

"FULL POWER! ICE MAKE: DOUBLE CANNON!" Twin bursts of magical energy slammed into the mummy, kicking up a giant steam cloud as the power of the impact evaporated the ice. Gray brought his hands together, watching the cloud for any sign of movement in preparation for another shot. He was caught completely off guard when a half dozen bandages flew out from the cloud, tying him up. The cloth wrapped around his entire body in seconds, leaving only his head exposed. Bandages emerged from the cloud a second later, grinning confidently at his prisoner.

"Not bad boy, but far stronger opponents than you have tried that kind of attack in the past. Now, I believe I owe you some pain." The bandages around Gray began to squeeze like a constrictor, causing Gray to scream in pain as his bones threatened to break. The mummy picked the boy up, placing the mages back against his head, with one hand around his throat and the other by his knees.

"Now I'm going to squeeze, and I'm going to pull. We can make a game out of it, what part of your body do you think will give out first? Will your bones be crushed into dust, or will your back break and make your head meet your feet?" The Fairy Tail group watched in horror as Gray withered in pain, uselessly trying to free himself. Goku reached to his back and grabbed onto his Power Pole, spinning it around and taking aim at the mummy. Before he could move though, the bandages covering Gray were sliced to pieces. Bandages looked around in surprise, dropping the ice mage onto the ground as he did so. Gray looked up with blur eyes to see a hand in front of his face.

"Turns out you're not quite as wimpy as I thought you were." Mira gently hoisted Gray to his feet, placing herself between him and the mummy.

"Alright, get back through that door and go join the others. You forfeit, you aren't going to win this fight and there is no reason for you to die for a lost cause." The punk girl shooed the ice mage away and walked up directly in front of the massive monster.

"It's my turn now."


End file.
